Painful ovulation? IBS during ovulation? You probably don't have IBS

trjjoy

This doesn't fit anywhere else, so here goes. Today I discovered I have a 5cm cyst on my left ovary. I first experienced the IBS-type symptoms in 2009 but only one of the MANY doctors I've been to since then realised what it might be and she sent me to have an ultrasound done. It took 6 years to get a diagnosis.

Ovulation shouldn't be a painful period. Period. Please go see a doctor and ask for an transvaginal ultrasound if it's at all possible. Regular ultrasounds do not pick up on cysts.

amanda_durham35

I have mild PMS symptoms during ovulation. Is that what you're talking about?

Francl27

Yeah it's been going on for 3 days for me. So much fun (not). I have two cysts, been monitoring them ever since one of them twisted a year ago (good times), but that's pretty much it. For a while I was wondering why exercising made me cramp so badly in the middle of my cycle.

One of the joys of being females.

But yeah, all the GYNs I've seen never take my symptoms seriously either - 'oh it's normal to cramp a little around ovulation' or 'oh it's normal to be hungrier before your period' (while you're there having to eat 4000 calories a day because you are so hungry you're dizzy and shaking).

VintageFeline

Not strictly true. I had dreadful dreadful cramps, near fainting and nausea all through my teens from menstruating (and only every second month, only one ovary hated me). I have been tested for PCOS/endometriosis and all clear. Some women do have painful periods for no other reason than they just do. Since being on and off the pill since my late teens it's much diminished, even when off the pill, thank goodness.

This is scaremongering really.

TRC64

trjjoy wrote: »

Ovulation shouldn't be a painful period. Period.

Actually, pain upon ovulation is common in some women, and has nothing to do with an ovarian cyst. It actually has a name, mittelschmerz, which is German for "middle pain."

I started getting it after the birth of my second child. I initially thought it was appendicitis, that's how painful it was. I had quite a few examinations, and no ovarian cysts, endometriosis, etc. One doctor told me it wasn't extremely common, but it was still pretty normal. I could always tell which ovary was releasing the egg, because the pain corresponded to that side; mine was always pretty localized, not general abdominal pain.

As I got older, the pain was less intense (tired aging ovaries, I guess! lol). But when I was in my twenties/early thirties it could be brutal.

pootle1972

Disagree discomfort during ovulation is normal.

CoffeeNCardio

Ditto on the "not true". I'm one of those freaks who gets ZERO period cramps, but I can feel that ovulation happening like a knife in the gut some months (and nothing other months). And I had cancer down there, so I assure you, they have been checking VERY THOROUGHLY for anything out of sorts, every two months, since I was 18. Pain during ovulation and menstruation are completely normal.

ETA: For clarification, I had the same pain levels during the same times in my cycle long before I had cancer, so it's unrelated.

mimismommy11

TRC64 wrote: »

trjjoy wrote: »

Ovulation shouldn't be a painful period. Period.

Actually, pain upon ovulation is common in some women, and has nothing to do with an ovarian cyst. It actually has a name, mittelschmerz, which is German for "middle pain."

Ditto to this! I have ovulation pains every single cycle, and they are intensified now that I'm on fertility medication. Painful ovulation can be and is totally normal for some women, and it doesn't mean there is something wrong.

ElizabethOakes2

Yes, ovulation pain is common, BUT it does make sense that if you're having new pain that you haven't experienced before, you should get it checked out and get an ultrasound or CT if possible to make sure nothing is wrong.
I know quite a few women like trjjoy whose doctors told them it was 'normal', and to take ibuprophen, only to find out years later that they'd been living with painful ovarian cysts, benign uterine tumors and other problems that could have been resolved if their doctors had taken the time to look for causes. Doesn't mean all of us have a reason for pain, but enough people do that we need to make doctors rethink how painful ovulation and PMS are treated.

luciroo

I think the point the OP is making is that if you have not had issues with pain during ovulation and then suddenly do you should have it checked out.

I for one have never had painful ovulation. Never had any issues with my period at all (cramps, heavy bleeding, irregularity, none of that) until I was 40. When I started having issues the gynecologist I had been seeing for 17 years did the pelvic and was like "yeah, I think I can feel fibroids....they will cause these issues" pretty much acted like it is what it is, nothing we can do, deal with it, wrote the refill for my BCP and left the room. Never been so pissed off in my life - easy for a dude who's never dealt with massive bleeding for weeks at a time while on BCP to act like it's no biggie. I saw a new (female) gynecologist who listened to my symptoms, ordered a transvaginal ultrasound to check if there were fibroids and not tumors, and did a uterine biopsy just to be sure there were no cancerous cells since this prolonged bleeding and cramps were NEW and NOT NORMAL for ME. She changed my BCP as the first line of trying to address the fibroids my issues, which worked. I can't imagine what the last 10 years of my life would have been like if I just accepted that the issues I had started having were "normal". (just had to go off BCP for a couple of months to check for menopause and the last 2 months have been horrendous. Dr. put me back on them!)

kshama2001

TRC64 wrote: »

trjjoy wrote: »

Ovulation shouldn't be a painful period. Period.

Actually, pain upon ovulation is common in some women, and has nothing to do with an ovarian cyst. It actually has a name, mittelschmerz, which is German for "middle pain."

I started getting it after the birth of my second child. I initially thought it was appendicitis, that's how painful it was. I had quite a few examinations, and no ovarian cysts, endometriosis, etc. One doctor told me it wasn't extremely common, but it was still pretty normal. I could always tell which ovary was releasing the egg, because the pain corresponded to that side; mine was always pretty localized, not general abdominal pain.

As I got older, the pain was less intense (tired aging ovaries, I guess! lol). But when I was in my twenties/early thirties it could be brutal.

Ya, I have mild to moderate mittelschmerz. But no cramps when I menstruate.

jgnatca

Figured the Germans would have a word for it.

A Lamaze instructor told the class my daughter attended that delivery is not painful. She called it "pressure". I had some choice words for that instructor when I heard about it. Pain is pain.

Francl27

jgnatca wrote: »

Figured the Germans would have a word for it.

A Lamaze instructor told the class my daughter attended that delivery is not painful. She called it "pressure". I had some choice words for that instructor when I heard about it. Pain is pain.

*snort*

I remember having that exam where they inject some dye in your tubes to check for blockage. The doctor said I'd feel a bit of pressure. 'pressure' my ***. Worst pain I've ever felt.